Ferdinand Savour Victory

Now in its 13th year the Mercury Music prize celebrates the best of the years music from across the UK and Eire. Since 1997, the Mercury Music Prize has been the UK's number one arts prize in terms of media coverage. A sort of credible Brits in a way, largely distancing itself from manufactured pop glamour seen in other ceremonies. With previous winners including Badly Drawn Boy, Pulp and Suede the standard has been set for todays acts.

The Band in Full

It was with no great surprise then that Glasgow based Franz Ferdinand was awarded the prize in the ceremony earlier this month. With their fresh retro-art rock as well as a sizzling performance at Glastonbury earlier this year, they have truly emerged as the brightest musical hope of 2004.

This year's shortlist has been particularly welcomed by the independent labels, with five of the nominated acts signed on indie labels, including the winners Franz Ferdinand, along with Basement Jaxx, Belle & Sebastian, Ty and Robert Wyatt. As Simon Frith of the Chair of Judges explains, "This is an exceptional year, most dramatically illustrated by the emergence of several new and varied bands together with outstanding work by three powerful female singers. The shortlist also recognises the continued good health of the gloriously eclectic world that is British and Irish music." Alison Wenham, Chairman & Chief Executive of the Association of Independent Music continues, "Once again the independent record sector in the UK has demonstrated the vital role it plays in discovering, nurturing and promoting new music. The impressive representation of the Indies at this years Mercury Prize highlights the sectors continuing success in breaking new talent.

Band Logo

Franz Ferdinand has said their success in the Mercury Music Prize represents a resurgence of "real" rock music over "despicable" reality pop. "What this signifies... is an end to this despicable era we've gone through of manufactured pop music," singer Alex Kapranos said after their win. After criticising reality pop TV shows such as Pop Idol and Fame Academy, Kapranos claims that great bands were always made up of "ordinary guys from anywhere" writing their own music and lyrics as well as using their own creativity and talent. Such creativity and talent seems to be paying off for the boys; with two million albums sold worldwide, they are expected to make a real name for themselves in the coming years.

However, previous winners have had varying degrees of success after winning the Mercury Music Prize. The award helped recent winners like Ms Dynamite reach mainstream appeal, but earlier winners such as Talvin Singh and Roni Size didnt quite manage to cross over in the same way. Sales of Dizzee Rascal's victorious Boy In Da Corner album went up 150% the day after he won last year but for others the prize remains an albatross.

This doesnt seem to faze the band who, while working on their next album, plan to donate the 20,000 prize money to an inner city music centre for Glasgows youth, to maintain the growth in Glasgows music scene through future generations. As for Kapranos himself, he only had one thing to say after the ceremony - "I'm off to phone me ma!!!

Politics Factzone: The truth about Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il, the leader of the free world, has decided to move on to more fertile grounds, leaving with us just the memories of 8-color rainbows, singing Korean women and couple of nuclear weapons. But who was this man whose next ambition would have been to get the next Nobel Peace prize? Here are just a few facts you should know about. more Top 5 Conspiracy Theories Related to John F. Kennedy's Assassination 26.Aug 2011 Since just after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, conspiracy theories abou...read ISRAEL KEEPING GHADDAFI AFLOAT 10.Mar 2011 ...read Glen Beck Is NOT the Anti-Christ! 10.Mar 2011 Hurtful and fiery rhetoric is now media’s default setting! This slippery and m...read Recipe for A REVOLUTION! (10 easy steps - try not to get burned!) 28.Feb 2011 Rebellion is cooking in the air. People are mad as hell, and not going to take...read THE ASSANGE CASE. CIA INTERFERED WITH SWEDISH LEGAL PROCESSES EXTREME RIGHT POLITICS A DANGER TO EUROPEAN UNITY THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY. OUT OF TOUCH, OUT OF FOCUS, OUT OF CREDIBILITY AND HOPEFULLY, OUT OF THE DOOR Opinion World governments charged with criminal negligence (in response to Megaupload case) EARTH (thecheers.org) - Federal authorities of the universe have charged the governments of all the countries in the world as well as the operators actually in power in these countries with operating a criminal enterprise, the Galaxy warriors announced Today. more The Great OSCARS 2011 – or so it would seem 5.Mar 2011 So, how exciting......a morning off, the Academy Awards. I wish I could say the...read Top 7 Expensive Bordellos. Prostitution: Shakedown, Tier Down, and Priced Out 31.Jan 2011 According to a report of the Washington DC-based US Department of State, The Ph...read The Great Secret and Reason for the JFK Assassination 11.Oct 2010 The great question is why the great secret? On June 4 1963, President Kennedy s...read Don't Do it! The 3 Worst Times to Get Tattoos 4.Oct 2010 As a general rule, tattoos gotten after 2 am are a bad idea. But in a bigger pi...read

Travel Travel Warning 13 September 2010 - DO NOT TRAVEL TO IRAN 13.Sep 2010 TRAVELWISE has been watching the situation in Iran for some months in relation ...read more TRAVELWISE TRAVEL ADVISORY 5th June 2010. DO NOT TRAVEL TO ISRAEL. 5.Jun 2010 Given the recent incident whereby the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, used...read TRAVELWISE. 16 APRIL 2010. EUROPEAN TRAVEL ALTERNATIVES 16.Apr 2010 Travelwise issues the following advice in relation to cancelled flights to, fro...read TRAVELWISE 6 APRIL 2010. AUSTRALIAN AIR TRAVEL. THE BEST WAYS TO TRAVEL BY AIR IN AUSTRALIA. 5.Apr 2010 Regular readers might have seen and read the various advisory and no-fly notice...read TRAVELWISE 2 APRIL 2010. QANTAS. 2.Apr 2010 Some concerns have been raised in relation to some of the maintenance practices...read Sport No Payoff From the Playoffs $16.50 will Get Anyone in the Hall Mr McGwire Stupid Athlete Tricks Technology Think Big! Think the World's Largest International Trade Show Top 9 cool laptop accessories for laptop geeks Twittering: I'm not that interesting Cheers Jesus' Answering Machine Brown Couch or twelve midgets in the town square How To Be Happy Drugged Out Saturday Nights Muslim Decapitation: Bad, or Simply Misunderstood?